Haley heads to New Hampshire following expected presidential announcement in South Carolina

by Caroline Vakil - 02/08/23 2:38 PM ET

FILE – Former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley speaks during the Iowa Republican Party’s Lincoln Dinner, on June 24, 2021, in West Des Moines, Iowa. Haley is moving closer to making her presidential campaign official. On Wednesday, Feb 1, 2023, supporters of the former South Carolina governor will get an email invitation to a Feb. 15 launch event in Charleston, at which she plans to announce her campaign, according to a person familiar with the plans but not authorized to speak publicly about them. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will be heading to New Hampshire after she makes what’s expected to be a formal presidential announcement in South Carolina.

Haley will hold two town hall meetings in Exeter, N.H., and Manchester, N.H., on Feb. 16 and Feb. 17, respectively, her Stand for America PAC said in a media advisory. The events would come shortly after the former two-term South Carolina governor makes an anticipated announcement in Charleston, S.C., that she’ll be running for the White House.

Both states are early presidential primary states, signaling that Haley will be wasting no time in meeting with voters and doing political outreach in the state ahead of a consequential 2024 election.

Haley’s expected announcement has already drawn some taunting from former President Trump, who posted on his Truth Social earlier this month that “Nikki has to follow her heart, not her honor. She should definitely run!” while juxtaposing a clip of her saying previously that she would support Trump if he ran in 2024.

But other possible Republican challengers are starting to dial up the rhetoric against Trump. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), widely floated as a possible 2024 contender, said on Wednesday that “I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans” in a thinly veiled jab at the former president.